Yep, L. (2001). Lady of Chʻiao Kuo: Warrior of the South. New York, NY: Scholastic.
ISBN: 0-439-16483-4
This is one of the books in the Royal Diaries series, like the Dear America series this series is written by multiple authors and covers multiple time periods. Unlike the Dear America series this series features actual historical figures and takes place across the globe featuring different royal characters. This book takes place in Southern China in 531 A.D. I chose this book as this is an historical figure that may not be known to tween readers unlike other royal featured in the series like Marie Antoinette or Cleopatra. The Royal Diaries series has a good balance between featuring well known and lesser known royals and featuring historical figures from all over the globe.
This is an interesting diary as it describes how records were kept during that place and time with the journal being described as a series of scrolls. The story describes how Lady Red Bird is educated and how she is a scholar but also great at war strategies. Lady Red Bird goes to live with a family Chinese colonists and to go to their school, in the book giving insight into both her own culture and the colonists culture. There is a lot of interesting diplomacy in the book that Lady Red Bird is involved in dealing with both allies and enemies. In addition to the diary the book features an afterward describing the rest of Lady Red Bird’s life after she finished this diary. Additionally there is more information about the time period including maps and pictures of artifacts from the time. The book also includes a glossary of characters letting readers know which characters are real historical figures and which are fictional characters invented to fill the role of people whose names have been lost to time. This is a great book for any fans of historical fiction particularly those who are interested in Asian history.
caitlinferrell 